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Oct. 8 Mike Matheny postgame interview

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Q.It isn't often that you see a manager pinch hit for his starting pitcher in the second inning when he's actually got a lead. How much of that was a reflection of the sense of urgency around this game since if you had lost Game 1?

MIKE MATHENY: Well, actually, it was obviously a sense of urgency, but Jaime's arm wasn't feeling right at the time. So that was the deciding factor.

Q. Is that an injury or what do you mean by not feeling right?

MIKE MATHENY: So actually we had to send him out. He's out right now getting an MRI, getting it looked at. Don't have the results, but we'll be able to comment on that, make a statement tomorrow.

Q. Is that the same shoulder that he had earlier this season?

MIKE MATHENY: I would imagine it's his throwing one.

Q. When did you become aware of that? What was the timetable how that all progressed?

MIKE MATHENY: We were actually already moving towards before he came up to bat. We knew about it and so began the wheels in motion to get Lynn ready, make sure he had enough time.
But he wasn't feeling good, and got to the point where he needed to say something, so we had to make a quick move.

Q. What does this win say about the depth of your club to be able to pull your starter in the second inning and win, and also get contributions up and down the lineup today?

MIKE MATHENY: It was nice to see everybody have their part, but you know, certainly tip our hat to Lance Lynn being able to come in in a situation like that and perform and keep his composure and be prepared; then be able to carry for a few innings, and the same way with the rest of the guys that came in in situations that they might not have normally.

But this offense, we know this offense has the potential to do this. We have a great respect for their offense, as well. We know they're explosive, as we saw a couple balls hit out of the park from them, as well. It was nice to see this, and hopefully it becomes contagious and the guys just keep going.

Q. You just alluded to it right there, but how nice a cushion is it to have an 18 game winner available for you guys out of the bullpen?

MIKE MATHENY: Yeah, it's a huge advantage, especially he's so durable and strong that we can do that, even though he pitched last night.

But he's tough. He's tough minded, he's physically tough, and we felt very comfortable going to him in that situation. And to be quite honest, we felt comfortable bringing in a Joe Kelly in that situation, too, and we could have extended a Trevor Rosenthal. But Lance stepped up in big fashion and was able to really take advantage of that opportunity, because we needed him badly.

Q. Comment on Jon Jay's catch.

MIKE MATHENY: One of the best catches I've seen. I think it's his best catch of the year. He barely looked up as he was hitting the wall, very impressive and had a couple RBI hits, as well. He's been so consistent in the outfield making the routine play, but the biggest thing about him is how he's taken charge in the outfield. He's truly been quarterbacking and improving and it's fun to watch him do his thing.